Top Technologies of 2012 Cater to the Common Man

We’ve heard well enough about how technology is expanding exponentially, but what nobody’s talking about is how we, as people… are not. The common man resents, fears and will rebel against a technocracy, so technology is at its best when it’s available and accessible to the common man. Like Prometheus stealing fire from the gods to give to the masses (minus the daily eagle tearing your liver out thing) the top technologies of the day place power over runaway technology into the hands of regular people. 3D Printing: It’s Like Netflix for Solid Objects What could be better than your own, private Star Trek Replicator? Enter your selection, press a button, and the machine spits out a Salisbury steak dinner… Or, a distributor cap… We’re not quite there yet, but 3D printing offers up a reasonable facsimile (no pun intended). All you need is 3D software, a 3D printer and the wherewithal to design your own computerized geometric renderings and, voila! Things on demand! Rising printer sales over the last ten years have driven down prices and, on top of that, the Replication Rapid-Prototyper (RepRap) Project has advanced an open-source 3D printer technology upon which companies like BotMill and Bits From Bytes have built ultra-cheap 3D printers. What’s more, 3D printing services have sprung up around the web, from consumer-friendly Shapeways to the higher-end industry-grade Redeye. Space, the Private Frontier? Even since we humans spent our nights huddled around campfires on the open savannah, we’ve ever looked at the moon and stars and wondered, dreamed up stories and formulated hypotheses about what’s up there. It is for this reason that the moon landing in 1969 is the most momentous event in human history. Today, we’re left wondering “what happened to all that?” Speaking of Your Couch… Our number three tech of the year is a little closer to home. I’m talking about the living room, in this case, the connected living room. So much attention of late has been placed on mobile, but the real goings on are in the immobile. Increasingly, when at home, our principal connection with the outside world takes place through our televisions. More Details: